US Jobless Claims Down

Fewer Americans filed for new jobless benefits last week. And
economists say that July's unemployment report due out on Friday could
be another sign that the recession has bottomed out. But even as the
pace of job losses appears to be slowing, U.S. retailers continue to
report disappointing sales.

The U.S. Labor Department says about 550,000 Americans
filed new claims for jobless benefits last week. That was down 38,000
from the previous week and below analysts' expectations.

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com says the new claims number is encouraging.

"It
indicates that the job market, while still bad, is getting better," he
said. "The job losses, while still severe, are abating. And it is all
consistent with the idea that this recession is coming to an end."

The
drop in jobless claims is giving economists hope that Friday's
unemployment report for July will be less severe than has been feared.
U.S. unemployment stands at 9.5 percent and many economists expect the
rate to top 10 percent in coming months.

But even if the U.S.
job market is showing modest signs of stabilizing, Americans are not
inclined to spend. With few exceptions, U.S. merchants reported
disappointing sales figures on Thursday, with shopping mall retail
chains hit particularly hard.

Retail consultant Ken Perkins says
Americans are consuming less and saving more. "They are not spending
their money right now. Clearly they are continuing to save," he said.

"They
are still not confident that the economy is any better now than it was
a year ago," said Corlett. "They are not confident that it is going to
be better next year."

But President Barack Obama's economic team
continues to express cautious optimism about the road ahead. Speaking
in Washington, the Chairwoman of the president's Council of Economic
Advisers, Christina Romer, said a return to economic growth will
precede job creation.

"Most forecasters are now predicting that
GDP [gross domestic product] growth is likely to turn positive by the
end of the year," said Romer. "There is substantial uncertainty to this
forecast, and there is greater uncertainty about how strong the
recovery is likely to be. Unfortunately, even once GDP begins to grow,
it will likely take still longer for employment to stop falling and
begin to rise."

Romer said, as turbulent as U.S. economic
conditions remain, they would be far worse if a massive $787 billion
stimulus package had not been enacted in February.